Sudan ‘clashes’ after farm protester dies

Sudanese police stand in front of protesters in Khartoum on November 28, 2012. By Ashraf Shazly (AFP/File)

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AFP) – Sudanese police clashed for a second day on Saturday with citizens objecting to an agricultural development after one protester died from his injuries, a resident said.

The victim “died because of injuries as a result of clashes with police yesterday,” said the resident of the Om Doum neighbourhood along the Blue Nile River in east Khartoum. He asked not to be identified.

“Now the people of the area are blocking the road and they are clashing with police,” he said.

On Friday about 400 demonstrators blockaded the main street and set tyres alight to protest what they said is a Gulf-invested agricultural project on “their” land.

Police said that both officers and civilians were injured in Friday’s confrontation.

Sudan has been seeking alternate revenue sources after losing most of its export earnings when South Sudan split two years ago with roughly 75 percent of the country’s oil production.